Lambo Gallardo auto for free

LAMBORGHINI has effectively slashed up to $47,204 from the price of its Gallardo supercar in Australia, by making E-Gear automatic versions of all variants the same price as the equivalent manual model.

Effective from this month, both the six-speed manual and E-Gear auto versions of its entry-level Gallardo LP550-2 coupe are now priced at $409,500 plus on-road costs.

That is $10,500 or 2.6 per cent more than before for the manual and some $16,704 or 3.9 per cent less than before for the auto, which previously commanded a price premium of some $27,204.

Although base Gallardo pricing therefore returns to the high side of $400,000 (after the new entry-level LP550-2 rear-drive coupe lowered the House of the Raging Bull’s admission price to $399,000 in 2010), pricing for the limited-edition Gallardo LP550-2 Balboni coupe remains unchanged at $489,000 plus ORCs.

All-wheel drive versions of the Gallardo, (which run a more powerful 414kW version of the LP550-2’s 407kW 5.2-litre V10) have come in for bigger cuts, with the entry-level LP560-4 manual coupe now priced at $455,000 plus ORCs – some $20,000 or 4.2 per cent less than before.

From top: Gallardo Balboni and Superleggera, Aventador and Aventador J concept.

The same price now also applies the E-Gear auto version of the LP560-4, representing a massive $47,204 or 9.4 per cent reduction, while the lighter-weight 419kW LP570-4 Superleggera E-Gear coupe is now priced from $541,500 (down $1000).

The all-AWD Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder convertible line-up now starts at $502,000 plus ORCs – down from $515,000 - following a $13,000 (2.5 per cent) price cut for the manual and a big $40,204 saving for E-Gear buyers.

Pricing for Lamborghini’s new Murcielago-replacing 515kW 6.5-litre V12-powered Aventador LP 700-4 coupe flagship – a convertible concept version of which, dubbed the Aventador J, was revealed at last week’s Geneva motor show - remains unchanged at $754,600 plus ORCs.

This month’s repositioning of the Gallardo – the Sant’Agata Bolognese brand’s most successful model ever - follows lacklustre sales for Lamborghini in Australia last year, when just 32 of the Italian supercars were sold – down 28.9 per cent on the 45 purchased in 2010.

Last year Lamborghini coupe sales fell from 35 to 25 (down 28.6 per cent), while convertible sales slumped by 30 per cent - from 10 to seven.

While the Aventador J show car was said to be a one-off show car for Geneva, overseas reports insist a second-generation Gallardo is in the offing for next year, when Lamborghini’s original ‘compact’ two-door notches up a decade in production. Lamborghini has sold more than 12,000 Gallardos since 2003.

“We always say that design is not an evolution but a revolution, and this will be the philosophy of the follow-up to the Gallardo,” company president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann recently told US magazine Car & Driver.

Like its predecessor, the next Gallardo is again expected to share many of its fundamental components – including its modular mid-engined platform and a new V10 that is rumoured to produce more than 440kW – with the upcoming R8 supercar replacement from Volkswagen Group sister brand Audi.

Mr Winkelmann told Australian journalists at Geneva that a third model was vital for Lamborghini’s long-term survival, but indicated that a production version of Lamborghini’s widely speculated SUV concept, which is expected to emerge at next month’s Beijing show in China, is at least four years away.

If Lamborghini produces an SUV, it would be aimed at wealthy brand loyalists in its two largest markets – the US and China – as well as the ‘new rich’ in developing markets like Russia.

Automobili Lamborghini again sold more cars in the US and China than any other country in 2011, with the UK, Germany, Italy and the Middle East its next biggest markets.

Chinese customers snapped up more than 20 per cent of all Lamborghinis delivered last year, with 342 sales equating to 70 per cent year-on-year sales growth in the world’s most populous nation, where the first Lamborghini dealership opened just six years ago.

The northeast Italian brand’s retail network expanded from nine dealers to 14 last year in China, where a total of 20 are expected to be operating in 2012 – when Lamborghini’s international Blancpain Super Trofeo racing series comes to Asia for the first time.

While Lamborghini sold more cars than Aston Martin last year in China, Ferrari outstripped both boutique brands by delivering 777 cars (up 62.6 per cent) in the Greater China Area – including 500 in China itself - which in recent months became Ferrari’s second largest market.

Globally, sales were up by 300 vehicles or 23 per cent last year – to 1602 from 1302 in 2010 - when Lamborghini launched the Aventador, which remains sold out for more than 18 months.

Naturally, the older Italian brand eclipsed that by more than 400 per cent, selling 7195 cars last year (up 9.5 per cent) on the back of stronger sales in China, the US, Germany and the UK.

New figures show the Maranello brand – which has cash reserves of about a billion dollars, thanks in part to its booming licensing and Ferrari Store businesses - also posted a 2011 trading profit of 312.4 million euro ($A389m – up 3.2 per cent), meaning its return on sales was one of the industry’s highest at 14.1 per cent.

Like Ferrari, however, Lamborghini expects “a further continuation of the global economic revival” - despite Europe’s debut crisis and slower economic growth in China.

“Given that the relevant economic framework does not change for 2012, we forecast a further increase of our worldwide deliveries, based on the growing success of both the Aventador and the Gallardo,” said Mr Winkelmann.

Lamborghini Gallardo pricing (plus ORCs):
Coupe
LP550-2	$409,500 (+$10,500)
LP550-2 E-Gear (a)	$409,500 (-$16,704)
LP550-2 Balboni	$489,000
LP560-4	$455,000 (-$20,000)
LP560-4 E-Gear (a)	$455,000 (-$47,204)
LP570-4 Superleggera (a)	$541,500 (-$1000)
Spyder
LP560-4	$502,000 (-$13,000)
LP560-4 E-Gear (a)	$502,000 (-$40,204)